Two years ago, researchers at UCLA found that specific regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger and had more gray matter than the brains of individuals in a control group. This suggested that meditation may indeed be good for all of us since, alas, our brains shrink naturally with age.

Now, a follow-up study suggests that people who meditate also have stronger connections between brain regions and show less age-related brain atrophy. Having stronger connections influences the ability to rapidly relay electrical signals in the brain. And significantly, these effects are evident throughout the entire brain, not just in specific areas.

An improved ability to cope with stressful situations and people. When you can stay calm in stressful situations your decision making is less likely to be a rash “knee-jerk” reaction and more likely to be appropriate to the situation.

Better sleep, which improves physical energy and improves decision making. Sure you could drink a lot of coffee to try counter the effects of poor sleep, but then you have to cope with caffeine jitters

Mindfulness meditation, when used to interrupt negative thought patterns is a great tool for releasing negative thoughts and feelings. That in turn makes it easier to keep on track with healthy habits (like diets).

This article was going to be longer, but I think I had better go do my meditation now